Second Chances: Part 5: "On Guard"
by Trish1
Summary: The Grays rally to protect Lady Elizabeth.


Second Chances: Part 5 "On Guard"  
Written by Trish  
Disclaimer: The following is a work of fanfiction based on the characters and placed from the 1992 television series Covington Cross. No copyright infringement is intended and no profit has been made.   
  
Armus sat pensively on the steps in the courtyard of Covington Cross, feeling very much on guard. He was certain that Leland would waste no time in trying to collect his stolen wife, and was awaiting his angry visit. Cedric and Eleanor sat nearby, and Richard had fallen into his familiar pacing at the bottom of the stone staircase.   
  
"Everyday there is something else to loathe about that man." Richard declared refering to Mullens as he kicked at the ground. "Not only is he a traitor to the king, but to force a man to leave his family, to save his skin." Richard's voice filled with anger at the thought what John Mullens would stoop to.   
  
"Poor Lady Elizabeth." Cedric interjected. "I've never seen her like that."   
  
"She's had a great shock today, and she's very confused." Armus agreed. "And poor Father. There is a very good chance he could actually lose Lady Elizabeth."  
  
"Do you think she would go back to her husband?" Eleanor questioned. Her voice did not hold her usual hopeful tone at the thought of Lady Elizabeth leaving Covington Cross. Today it was filled with concern and her brother's could read the difference.   
  
"She may not have a choice. The king's law, is the king's law." Armus answered.  
  
"There's more to do with it than the king's law." Richard interrupted. "There's the church. In the eye's of the church they are still joined. In fact, under church law her third marriage is rendered null and void."  
  
"But it's been so long. Surely there are exceptions." Eleanor said.   
  
"I doubt it." Richard said frustrated. "But there must be something we can do."  
  
"Father and I are riding to London tomorrow to ask for an audience with the king, perhaps there is someway he can intercede." Armus did not sound hopeful.  
  
"Well, if he can't. We will have to think of something." Cedric spoke up, already forming a plan in his head. His brothers and sister looked at him in amazement, they could tell from the tone of his voice that the wheels of his mind were already springing into action.  
  
"Let's hear it Little Brother." Armus demanded ready to judge the merits of the proposition.  
  
Cedric hated it when they called him Little Brother, but he leaned forward and shared his great idea.   
______________________________  
  
"You must think me horrible, Thomas." Elizabeth said to Thomas as she lay against his arm in the solar.   
  
"What? Why would I ever think that?" Thomas said softly.  
  
"My once beloved husband returns from the dead, and all I can think of is running off with another man." Elizabeth said, guilt in her voice.  
  
"I don't mind that so much, as long as the other man is me." Thomas grinned and kissed her forehead.   
  
"Thomas, I'm serious." Elizabeth surpressed a chuckle. "If Anne came back, you wouldn't give me a second thought."  
  
Her words stung him for a moment. He knew she had not meant to hurt him, and that he had, in the past, given her cause to doubt. But now the only thing that mattered to him was Elizabeth. He moved around to look into her face, wanting her to see the sincerity in his eyes.   
  
"Anne's not coming back, and I love you." He said ernestly.  
  
Elizabeth smiled soaking in his words. "I loved Robert once, as much as you loved Anne. But it is you who owns my heart now. I love you Thomas." She said, burying her face against his chest and beginning to cry.   
  
"Hear me now." He whispered. "No one will ever take you from me." He vowed.  
  
She raised her head and looked into his eyes. The look Thomas read there was the same thought that plagued his mind. 'If we have any choice.' He held her closer, almost afraid she would slip away from him then and there.   
_______________________________  
  
Armus was right. The sun was still bright in the sky when a livid Robert Leland tore through the gate of Covington Cross, yelling at the top of his lungs.   
  
"Gray!" He shouted. "Where is she?"   
  
Sir Thomas openned the door that led from the great hall, and walked proudly into the courtyard ready to face whatever trial waited there. Armus and Cedric fell in line behind their father, swords at the ready. Richard and Eleanor had been charged with guarding Lady Elizabeth should anything go wrong. They watched the events unfolding below with the noble woman from an upstairs window.   
  
Robert's rage had but one target, his one time friend. "I have come for my wife." He demanded.  
  
"She has not been your wife for sometime, and is so now in name only." Thomas stated cooly. "She will not leave these walls."  
  
"Then you are kidnapping her." Robert informed him.  
  
"We are offering her sanctuary." Armus spoke up.   
  
Robert laughed in disgust. "You've even drawn your children into your criminal act." He said to Sir Thomas.  
  
"How is it criminal when Lady Elizabeth wants to be here." Cedric demanded.  
  
"What she wants is of little consequence. The law uphold my right to her." Robert slipped back into highwayman demeanor. It was an unflattering picture, and one that proved just how much the once gentle man had changed.   
  
"You want her as a trophy." Sir Thomas yelled. "Some image the girl you left behind all those years ago."   
  
Robert's patients could hold no longer, and he lurched his horse forward toward Sir Thomas. "Elizabeth is my wife, and I demand she return home with me." He shrieked.   
  
Thomas remembered the Robert he had once known. That man had been kind, honorable, and decent. The eyes that stood before him held a long smoldering rage. Thomas noted how his moods had changed drastically during their few conversations today, and now the man stood there holding back violence with all his might. There was no way he was going to let this man near Elizabeth. "Robert, I truly feel for all you've gone through." Thomas said calmly trying to appease Leland. "You can rest assured that I will do my best to see John Mullens brought to justice for what he has done." Then Thomas's tone turned serious. Armus and Cedric looked at each. They had never heard their father sound so stern. "Elizabeth has payed enough. She will not leave these walls. Not while I'm alive."   
  
Robert took the openning that Thomas had not meant to give. "Then perhaps I will have to see to it that you do not remain so for long."   
  
Elizabeth heard the threat from the upstairs window and gasped sharply. Richard and Eleanor seemed ready to pounce into the courtyard below, even from that height. On the ground, Armus and Cedric stepped closer to their father, their hands gripping the sword handles at their sides. Thomas stood firm.   
  
Robert saw that he was outnumbered, three to one. Those odds were stacked against him once before, and he had lost miserably. Feeling it best to save his ire for another day he retreated. "This is not over Gray." He spat at him.   
  
Turning his horse for the gate Robert looked up to the second floor of the castle and yelled. "Elizabeth, you will be mine again. I will never let you go." With that he disappeared in a cloud of dust.   
  
Upstairs Lady Elizabeth shivered. Richard put his arm around her in comfort. "Don't worry, we won't let him take you away." He smiled, although Elizabeth could see that he was nervous. Oddly enough, Eleanor too embraced Lady Elizabeth in support. She smiled gratefully at both of them.  
  
Below in the courtyard Thomas turned to his sons, worry written on his face. "This is going to be harder than I thought." He said, and went inside to check on Elizabeth. The boys eyed each other, hoping Cedric's plan would work.   



End file.
